Country Zest & Style Winter 2022 Edition

Page 14

Cup of COFFEE

A New Year, a New Approach

H

beginning of each month, take a day, a moment, to think about what you did right over the previous month and what you want to do right in the next month.

By Sean Clancy ow’s the writing? I’m asked that often. All writers are asked that often. All writers ask that often.

Let’s face it, New Year’s resolutions are hard to keep, too big, too audacious, but perhaps 12 monthly resolutions would be easier. It’s not about declaring resolutions, that’s easy. It’s more about changing habits, staying focused, taking incremental approaches to change or improving habits, your trajectory. We’ll see. Twenty-three days to go.

This year, like all years, I’m trying to write every day. So far, so good. I use this in my response, actually.

January 14, 2022. Here it comes.

Writing every day. Not writing well every day but writing every day. My comrade nods his head, understanding the sentiment. January 2, 2022.

Sean Clancy

Good morning. Happy New Year. I’m trying a new approach, writing first thing in the morning before the day runs off, blows the turn and heads for the hills. Barn duty this morning as Covid continues to wreak havoc with all aspects of life. Nine horses waiting their turns. We aborted our trip to Alabama, a day early, as Covid wreaked havoc there as well. We feel fine. We shall see. January 5, 2022.

Put the blade on the tractor. Find the snow poles. Where’s the shovel? Fill up the car. Start the truck, let it run, prop out the wipers. Got milk? Bread? Coffee? Load the porch with firewood. The generator’s plugged in and gassed up. Hay in the sheds, the mangers. “Snow on a farm should be fun,” says Miles, 13. Yes, son, it should be fun. We’ll try to make it fun while trying to keep nine horses, a goat and a cat alive and well.

I hear him all morning long. “People don’t understand, everything you do with a horse is a calculated risk. Turn them out. Work them. Run them. Graze them. Everything you do is a calculated risk.” The late great Thoroughbred trainer, Allen Jerkens, calculated risk with horses all the way to the Hall of Fame. I’m no Allen Jerkens and our nine-strong string on Snake Hill Road in Middleburg is a long way from Sky Beauty, Onion, Prove Out, Kelly Kip, Emma’s Encore, Admiral Vee, Wagon Limit, Shine Again and Beau Purple but, alas, we make calculated risks all day long. Annie, Rob Massey and I make calculated risks about how many scoops of beet pulp, timothy or alfalfa or both, little paddock or round pen, ring work or road work or hack the hills, green Rambo or blue, shut the windows for warmth or leave them open for fresh air, bring them in when they look antsy or let them blow off some steam…

January 20, 2022. I manage an evening run, the training center loop, 5 miles up and down hills, 22 miles so far for the year. I’m not promising anything, no declarations of 1,000 miles, no promises of marathons. This year, I simply plod, one step after another step. It’s all I’ve got. I hadn’t made my traditional loop through the Middleburg Training Center for months, perhaps, since before Saratoga last summer. I know it well, know where and when my breath will take over my thoughts, know the flitter and flutter of the deer at the bottom of the hill, know the weather-beaten Centennial Farm sign, know the ridges, the ruts, the rainedout washes of the dirt road that cushions my feet falls. At least a little. January 23, 2022.

January 8, 2022.

My friend the hawk has returned. Perhaps, a red-shouldered hawk, although I’m no Audubon. He comes here most mornings, huddles on the top board of the back paddock. Turns his head and inspects, a traffic cop on a quiet street. Then he flies off, glides a few feet above our frozen ring and slows to a stop on the top board of the other back field. He lands a few feet from Eagle Poise. Like old friends, they acknowledge, almost a nod, an acceptance. The life, the beat, of the farm.

It’s the time of year to regroup, reload, reset for the coming new year. In our world, January offers the only respite from the wheel. A few yearly resolutions have been made, but what about monthly resolutions? At the

I need to write something for Badger Len. Yeah, the ZEST editor, Len Shapiro. What have I got? What have I got?

And when it snows, the decisions, the risks are magnified. It’s constant. Most of the time, you get the decisions right, the risk right. Sometimes, you get them wrong. I’m sure The Chief had an adage for that, too.

14

Sunday. Low, 14. High, 39. Snow, 100%. Winter Storm Watch. Heavy snow/mixed precipitation possible. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches are most likely, with up to 8 inches. Ice accumulations of one to two tenths of an inch are possible. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph. Snow may fall at 1 to 3 inches per hour late Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening, resulting in nearly impassable roads. Visibility may be reduced to a quarter mile or less.

January 24, 2022.

MIDDLEBURG SUSTAINABLE COMMITTEE| Winter 2022


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A Letter From Paris: The Wedding Rehearsal From Hell

5min
page 66

PROPERTY Writes - Willwyn Farm: History and Horse Heaven

3min
pages 64-65

At Wakefield, a Scholarship Made All the Difference

3min
page 63

Middleburg Mayor Off to a Great Start

3min
page 62

TIRTHAS-The Thin Places Where Earthly and Divine Meet

2min
pages 60-61

Two Brave Men Honored as Civil Rights Stalwarts

4min
pages 58-59

Tremelo: A New Bar With a Musical Touch

3min
page 56

Hardly the Retiring Type Advocating for Children

4min
page 54

PATH Foundation Paves the Way

3min
page 53

At Cupcakes and Lace, It’s Sew Perfect

3min
page 52

The Potter’s House Making a Comeback

3min
page 51

A FIELD TRIP FOR THE BIRDS

3min
page 50

Profiles in1962 Courage: Integrating Loudoun’s Public Schools

7min
pages 48-49

Vineyard VIEW: Tasting the Wide World of Wine in Leesburg

3min
page 47

Foxcroft Student Just Keeps Zooming Along

3min
page 46

It’s Home Sweet Home for Miss “Issy”

3min
page 44

Country Zest & Style Winter 2022 Edition

3min
page 43

A Field of Dreams for Bernadette Boland

3min
page 42

Montana and Middleburg: A Perfect Fit

4min
page 41

At Home in the Countryside

3min
page 39

It’s Sophie’s Choice toHelp Save the Land

3min
page 38

It’s Family, It’s Horses, It’s Home

3min
page 37

NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS

2min
pages 34-35

New Technology: BRINGS BLACK HISTORY TO LIFE

5min
page 32

Keeping Traditions Alive to a Tea

3min
page 31

A Music Man with the Touch of an Artist

3min
page 30

STUDIO LUXE: A Welcoming Boutique for One and All

4min
page 29

At Hill, It’s The Path

4min
page 28

MODERN FINANCE - Electric Vehicles: Driving Toward the Future

2min
page 27

Leesburg’s Glenfiddich House Has Some History

3min
page 26

CARRY ME BACK: Hold Your Horses, It’s All Mush for the Dogs

3min
page 25

Land Trust of Virginia Had a Very Good Year

3min
page 24

Moonstruck Geologist Played a Vital Role at NASA

3min
page 23

Physical Therapist Mary Wilson Making a Wheel Difference

3min
page 22

CELEBRATIONS

1min
page 20

For the Bowersock Family, A Final Chapter

6min
page 18

A Vintage Shop Blends Wine, Art and Antiques

3min
page 17

Bluewater Market Has Survived and Thrived

3min
page 16

Cup of COFFEE: A New Year, a New Approach

5min
page 14

The Ice Was Nice and Thick in the Mid-1800s

3min
page 12

Crafted With Old World Care

3min
pages 8-9

Young Musicians Will Take Center Stage

3min
page 6

of NOTE - IT’S FABULOUS FEBRUARY

3min
page 4

For Chef Pete, Cruising to a Delicious Destination

3min
page 3

Straight Shooter Teresa Condon Right on Target

4min
pages 10-11
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